Page 86 of Torrid Love
I’m speechless.
“At least with Dom, you know it’s about you.” My gaze drifts to Loki. “It’s not about what you can do for her. She doesn’t care about who you can connect her to. She isn’t waiting for you to push her career to the next level. It’s not about your money. Even though you’re a bigshot, it’s still about you, the person. Few people will ever experience that kind of unconditional friendship.” Loki’s words further silence me.
After a few short minutes, I find my voice again. “I recognize what we share runs deep.”
And now things are different between us.
Maybe I never should’ve touched her.
We sit there in silence. It’s almost as if Loki and Roark give me time to process it all.
“So how did things go from pretty fucking amazing to the colossal mess I witnessed today?” Loki asks.
“We had a big argument yesterday morning.”
“What happened?” Loki asks.
“She’s hiding something from me. I just know it.”
“What do you mean?” Roark asks.
I share with them the highlights of the discussion that led to our big fight.
“I think someone hurt her, but she won’t open up to me,” I conclude.
“Maybe she’s had a few asshole boyfriends. It doesn’t mean she wants to revisit the past,” Loki says. “Heck, I’ve had my fair share of crazy flings I’d prefer to forget.”
“Same here,” my brother chimes in.
“I think it’s a lot more,” I argue.
“You’re making a whole lot out of nothing,” Roark counters. “You hold Dom on a pedestal, it amplifies everything about her.”
“Are you saying my suspicions are unjustified?” I challenge.
“What I’m saying is you took a big step in your relationship with her and all of a sudden, you’re demanding to know everything about every guy she’s ever been with. How would you feel if she came poking into your past?” my brother asks.
“I wasn’t poking. I care,” I comb my fingers through my hair, irritated as hell at his accusation.
“Rod, it’s true sometimes Dom retreats into her own little world, but give her time. Have you even defined what’s going on between the two of you?”
Roark’s question throws me for a loop.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Are you seeing her casually or is this more?” he explains.
“We haven’t gone there yet. We blurred the lines of our friendship—”
“More like you stomped all over them,” Roark chuckles.
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” I roll my eyes at him.
“Just being helpful,” he grins.
“As I was saying, everything happened so fast and it was far more intense than I expected.” I don’t want to go into more details than I have to. “And now things are awkward. Not to mention, she’s out on a date tonight with another guy and it’s driving me to drink hard liquor.”
Loki and Roark drop their eyes to my tumbler at the same time.
